Paul Cox is an Academy-Award-nominated Australian director
whose 2014 film, ‘Force of Destiny’, was screened at the 45th International
Film Festival of India in the Master Strokes section. Born in Holland and settled
in Australia, Paul has over 46 features, shorts and documentaries to his
name. Known as one of the most prolific
directors, Paul is a recipient of numerous special tributes and retrospectives
at film festivals around the world.
Before taking up filmmaking, Paul was passionate about
photography. While teaching at Prahran College of Advanced Education in the
1970s, he was asked to run the department of filmmaking. “I was learning
everything myself and so I was my own student. It gave me the confidence to
make films,” says Paul. He adds, “When you think about it seriously, even your
hobby becomes your profession. Professionally, there are times you have to
compromise on what you want to make with having to make something more
commercially viable. It is important that you remain true to yourself and do
what you believe in.”
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When asked whether being nominated for an Oscar and winning
several accolades at different film festivals across the world made it easier
for him to rise in the film industry, he replies, “The limiting ingredient of
our character is our ego. Many people think that because I won an award, I must
be really good and you become a fool. People with big egos have bigger
problems. I believe there are two types of people – shallow people who run the
world and real people who have nothing. They might have cars and houses but
those things mean nothing to them.”
Cox has also written a memoir, ‘Tales from the Cancer Ward’,
when he received a liver transplant. He met his partner, Rosie Igusti, a fellow
transplant recipient, in the same ward. “I keep telling myself that let the
birds in the sky and the leaves on the trees tell me what to do. It is so
inspiring. What do we leave behind in the world? People make one million, they
want to make another million… and it never stops. Isn’t it better to leave
something more valuable, like art, behind?”
Being present at the inaugural ceremony; commenting about
the adulation the celebrities receive in India, Paul says, “I have seen great
actors from different parts of the world but not like this with such a big
group of bodyguards and the crazy adulation. It can be damaging,” he says.
‘Force of Destiny’ was Paul Cox’s comeback film after 2008
with David Wenham and Indian actress Shahana Goswami in the lead. “I believe that anybody who has talent should
explore it. It is your decision. People will write and say good things about
you and even do the opposite, but that shouldn’t pull you down,” concludes
Paul.
